Google finally ended our suffering (or at least a part of it) and launched a developers-only preview version of Android O, version 8.0 of its mobile operating system, yesterday.

So with that being said lets see what was added to the new update.

To get Android O all you need to do is download it. Note that the version available for download requires you to flash your device, deleting all of the content on it currently.

Also to be noted is that this is an early version that's far from final, so according to Google, "there are more features coming, and there's plenty of stabilization and performance work ahead of us."New Features

Better battery life

Giving devices longer battery life is the goal of Background Limits, the top-billed feature in the release notes for the developer preview of Android O. To accomplish that, Google is "adding automatic limits on what apps can do in the background," which it started work on in Android N, version 7.

Among other things, the new background limits will put caps on the amount of background services and location updates that can be performed in a specific amount of time. By organizing and limiting these actions, Google's hoping your apps won't be able to do too much damage to your battery when you're not using them.

Improved notifications

Android O will also introduce Notification Channels, which will categorize notifications into channels. This way, users can block or change kinds of notifications in group, rather than muting all the things an individual app is trying to communicate.

Android's new copy feature

Android O's plans to allow you to let Android take the wheel when it comes to typing and stuff. Google's already revealed that this new version will include Autofill APIs, which allow users to select autofill apps, "similar to the way they select a keyboard app." Autofill apps can store and secure user data including addresses, usernames and passwords.

Gesture-based actions

Also rumoured is that Google's developed a feature that lets gestures trigger actions in Android. According to a report featured on Venture Beat, a user could draw the letter C onscreen could bring up a list of your recent contacts.

As for when the Android O will be available to everyone, we can expect May's Google I/O developer conference to feature a deeper dive into the update. Google I/O kicks off on May 17.

When the last Whatsapp update came around intorducingtheWhatsapp stories feature, many people were mad because while the Whatsapp stories wasn't a bad addition, it was brought in to replace the old favorite Text status.

Users immediately showed their displeasure, rating Whatsapp low on the playstore mostly because of the loss of the text status feature. The feedback has been so overwhelming that Whatsapp have been forced to bring the text feature back with the new update.

To get it all you have to do is download the update on your phone, open WhatsApp and tap on the Settings option, head to the “About and phone number” section and set a text status—just as you used to before. You can set a text-based status, or choose from default status options such as Available, Busy and Urgently call only.

With the new update both the Whatsapp stories and the old text based status can be used in tandem or a user can choose the one they prefer.

The re-addition of the basic status feature is now rolling out for the Android devices, and the app update can be downloaded from the Play Store. The same update will be available for Apple’s iPhones soon, though no specific date is available as yet.

There have been reports that the new Android update-- Oreo-- could be coming to users at this year's Google's annual I/O conference which just two months away.

With that being said, there's a lot of anticipation surrounding what the Android Oreo could bring to the table in terms of new features and the like.

According to 9to5Google some rumored features have been leaked and some of those have been detailed below.

Picture in picture mode: As is already seen on the iPad and some bespoke third-party launchers, as well as Google's own Android TV platform, this would let you have one app (or app function, such as a video player) remain open and on top of another separate app plane.

App icon badges: On oldie that's been knocking around for years on iOS and some third-party launchers, this would bring at-a-glance waiting notification number bubbles to app icons on the homescreen, as a native Android feature.

Restricted background activities: A power saving feature, this would de-prioritise app functions running in the background, going easier on your battery at the possible expense of having to reload some app functionality that would otherwise have been ticking over in the background.

Notifications: A vague suggestion that new notification types could be brought to Android, or that their current way of being displayed would change.

Smart selection: Perhaps the most interesting and potentially useful teased feature, this would integrate with Google Assistant to scan app text, pre-emptively highlighting important information (like phone numbers and addresses) for more easy copy-and-pasting between apps and text entry fields.

Adaptive app icons: As the name suggests, this would let app icons change dynamically on homescreens. As a crude example, think of a calendar app icon that changed to show the appropriate date on a daily basis.

All this comes in addition to new, undisclosed features that will make Android more relevant and attractive to enterprise users.

Google is yet to confirm any of this, so it's safe to say this should be taken with some Skepticism, but it'll be interesting to see what Google eventually go with.

Prolific leaker Evan Blass says the 5.8-inch S8 will cost 799€, which comes out to about $859 in U.S. dollars. This would be about a $100 premium over the S7 Edge from last year.

Meanwhile, the larger Galaxy S8 Plus is said to start at a pretty steep 899€, which works out to $966. This would easily be one of the most expensive phones yet.

With the Galaxy S8 set to launch in only a couple of weeks it looks like we'll know more about this soon. Blass also leaked the supposed pricing for multiple Galaxy S8 accessories. This includes a new 360 camera ($246), a new version of the Gear VR headset we previewed ($138) and an innovative desktop dock called DeX ($161) that will let you transform the S8 into a mini PC, complete with external monitor, mouse and keyboard support.

Seems everyone is excited for the new Google update as they have teased about the Android 8.0 which is sure to pack a punch.

When is it coming though? According to rumours, it could be pretty soon. The news making the rounds is that the Android 8.0 OS is expected to be revealed on Google's I/O 2017 developer festival on May 17 to 19.

According to Pocket Lint, the Android 8.0 operating system (OS) is generally rumored to be named as "Android Oreo," which is based on Google's traditional naming system after desserts.

So what does the new update feature? Well, according to reports, the Google Android 8.0 OS might feature the "Copy Less" feature. This option improves the process of copying details. Instead of copy and pasting information, users will get the text as a suggestion.

"[If] you and a friend are having a conversation in a chat about where to eat dinner and you find a good restaurant in the Yelp app, when you go back to your conversation and type "it's at," one automatically generated suggestion in Gboard would be the restaurant's address," NDTV said in an article.

The other feature which has gotten people excited is an option that first appeared on Apple's iOS. This is the responsive text option which give users the ability to tap on an address, phone number, or date in a message and open the respective apps automatically. Now on the Android Oreo OS, the feature could be released as an updated mode on Google's standard-issue Gboard virtual keyboard app or on the Android software.

Gesture recognition might also make it on the Android O software. Reports suggest that Google might add finger gestures to trigger actions in Android. For instance, users could open a short list of contact just by drawing the letter "C" on the phone's screen.

To be fair, Google hasn't officially announced any of this, so we still have to wait for a bit, but it is hoped that these new features can indeed be implemented.

We'll have more information on the going ons of the new Android update soon enough.

In this day and age when memory is king and unfortunately lots of phones that are budget ones don't come with a lot of internal memory which makes storing stuff annoying.

To augument this there are SD cards and most phones support as high as 64gb which is pretty handy. This also means that you can store your apps here and you don't have to worry about updates taking up more space and so on.

So here's how to move apps to the microSD card using Android's built-in application management features.

Moving Apps to SD Card Using Application Manager

1. Navigate to Settings on your phone. You can find the settings menu in the app drawer.

2. Tap Apps.

3. Select an app you want to move to the microSD card.

4. Tap Storage.

5. Tap Change if it’s there. If you don’t see the Change option, the app cannot be moved. If you are unable to find any apps with this option, it is likely that your device does not support the feature.

6. Tap Move.

If you wish to move an app back to the internal memory, hit the Change button again and select Internal Storage.

Use SD Card as Internal Storage

Unfortunately not all devices let you move apps to a microSD card but never fear, there's another way to go. This is called the Adoptable or Flex Storage. What it does is allow you to format a microSD card to act like added internal storage. Not all devices support this so make sure your device supports the feature before trying it out.

Consider before you start that you need the fastest microSD card that you can find to ensure smooth performance, at least Class 10 or UHS-I and preferably UHS-3. Also keep in mind that any data present on the microSD card will be erased when you format it as internal storage, and from that point, it will be unusable in other devices.

1. Navigate to settings on your phone. You can find the settings menu in the app drawer.

2. Tap Storage.

3. Select your SD card.

4. Tap the overflow menu button in the upper-right corner.

5. Select Storage Settings.

6. Tap Format as Internal.

7. Tap Erase & Format. If the system determines that your microSD card is too slow it will prompt you with a warning here that it will degrade performance.

8. Tap Move now. After making the selection you will tap next and initiate the transfer to your microSD card. The system will indicate roughly how long the transfer will take and how much data will be moved to your SD card.

9. Tap Done.

Your SD card will now be listed immediately below the internal shared storage and the system will use it as additional internal storage in the future.

So there you have it, easy steps that you can use to use your Micro SD card as a storage device for your apps.

If the latest rumours are to be believed then the much vaunted Samsung Galaxy S8 may be coming with a camera that can shoot clips at mind-boggling 1000 fps.

Now for some context: that’s almost 5 times better than the 240 fps slo-mo on the Galaxy S7 and iPhone 7, and even edges out the 960 fps Sony demoed on the Xperia XZ premium it recently unveiled at Mobile World Congress 2017.

What this would mean if you haven't let that sink in yet is that the new Samsung Galaxy S8 camera will be able to capture one frame every millisecond.

That means that you'll be able to use the S8 to record all sorts of interesting scenes, stuff you probably won't have been able to get before like a photo finish for a race or you know, whether a footballer cheekily stamped on a colleague while going down and clutching his ankle.

The only issue this brings up is space. If you're a heavy user, you'll be worried because there's just so much content.

Samsung have made no official announcement about this so it's best to take it with a pinch of salt. But with the Galaxy S8’s launch scheduled for March 29, we'll know soon enough.

A new leak has surfaced online showing the Samsung Galaxy S8 looking uber cool in its glossy black covering.

Many didn't see it coming and after reputable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo from KGI Securities tipped that the Galaxy S8 may come in no less than seven colors for the glass chassis - gold, silver, bright black, matte black, blue, orchid, and pink - people still wondered about the "bright" black and what it meant.

Was it to be something glossy and akin to the Jet Black piano lacquer finish of the iPhone 7 or...you know, something else.

The leaked pictures give us insight into this and while we can only see a black slab with curved display sides and corners cos it's not powered, it still looks pretty awesome.

There's also the Samsung logo on the back, a camera lens with adjacent flash and heart rate sensor, as well as the finger scanner on the other side of the camera. That coincides with most of the credible pics or renders we've seen so far of the Galaxy S8, so there is every chance that glossy black chassis lovers will have their wish fulfilled with the S8.

There was a huge backlash when the new Whatsapp update came on people's phone, not like they didn't like the addition of a 'Whatsapp stories' feature, they just hated that text-based status updates were removed.

So with this in mind, Whatsapp have decided to bring back the old feature

According to TechCrunch, the old feature will be back on Android phones as early as next week while iPhone users will get it soon as well.

"We heard from our users that people missed the ability to set a persistent text-only update in their profile, so we've integrated this feature into the 'About' section in profile settings. Now, the update will appear next to profile names anytime you view contacts, such as when creating a new chat or looking at Group info. At the same time, we're continuing to build on the new Status feature that gives people fun and engaging ways to share photos, videos and GIFs with their friends and family throughout their day," said Whatsapp

So what will happen is that the WhatsApp Text Status feature will work just in the same way as it was seen on Android beta version 2.17.95. with users able to set a text WhatsApp Status in the 'About' section which will change only when you want it to. Your contact list will be able to see the Status message by opening your contact, when starting a new chat thread, or viewing group info.

This is not to say the 'Whatsapp stories' feature is going anywhere but will only be housed in another tab. You can add photos and videos that disappear in 24 hours.

Many reports have stated that in terms of best-selling phones, Google's Pixel and Pixel XL are right up there, they were even crowned the best phones of the second half of 2016 (online of course).

You'd think this will mean that they will be everywhere since everyone wants to buy it, but no, they're actually pretty rare. After nearly five months on sale, the Pixel just went out of stock on the Google Store yet again.

Go on, try it, Head to the Google Store, click on the Pixel, and see. All you get is a waitlist. There's not a single version of either size in stock. So, you can't even buy a Pixel with a multi-week shipping timeline right now.

Now it's not uncommon for a popular phone to be scarce when first launched as demand usually outweighs supply. What makes the case of Google so perplexing is that it's a continuous situation that has yet to let up. There always some versions out of stock.

It might be a weird marketing strategy to get people to keep buying and make it kind of like a 'cool' phone that not just anyone can have. Whether that's a good business practise, i don't know especially when you consider that the Google Pixel is not a luxury phone, high end, yes, but certainly not luxury.

Or maybe Google is frustrated because HTC doesn't have the necessary capacity. Who knows?

I know, I didn't believe it either, but it's totally a thing. There is an iPhone accessory that's practically an Android device.

It's called the Esti Eye and it's on Kickstarter. It's practically an Android phone of its own. It just happens to snap onto the back of an iPhone. (6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, 7 and 7 Plus), you know, like a weird chameleon villain.

So details yeah? Well the Esti Eye has a second screen, which you look at when you're not looking at your iPhone screen. It can take selfies with your rear camera lens, it's...it's...well, weird.

It features, A 2,800mAh battery, Two extra SIM slots, An always-on 5-inch AMOLED screen, Wireless charging, A car-mount metal tag, Up to 256GB of extra storage, Infrared, A 3.5mm headphone jack, "Pure Android" (no version mentioned), with a promised two years of update support.

It's available on Kickstarter and it's expected to retail for $189 or $229 for the 4G LTE version, both shipping in August.

With the coming of the Galaxy S8 in just about two weeks the anticipation is high, but Android fanboys might have to temper their claims of a Samsung phone that will rival iPhone as a new report says iPhone 8 might have something that'll blow Samsung out of the water.

The iPhone 8 is rumored to feature a large display that would occupy almost the entire available space on the front side of the handset. Apple would kill the home button, without killing any of its features, reports said, including the Touch ID fingerprint sensor that would be embedded in the display.

The Galaxy S8 rumors that followed indicated that Samsung would take a similar approach, and actually beat Apple to market with an all-screen phone design that whose screen would also incorporate a fingerprint sensor.

However, the closer we got to MWC, it became clear that the Galaxy S8’s screen would not have fingerprint-reading powers. Instead, Samsung chose to place the sensor on the back side, next to the camera.

According to a new report, Samsung was really going for that feature, but had to ditch it as it ran out of time.

Apparently, Samsung partnered with Synaptics, but the latter was not able to complete the technology in time.

“Samsung poured resources into Synaptics’ fledgling technology last year, but the results were frustrating,” a source familiar with the matter revealed.

“With the production imminent, the company had to decide to relocate the fingerprint scanning home button to the back of the device at the last minute.”

Apple, on the other hand seemed to through patents show that it had been discovering different solutions that could add fingerprint-sensing features to any screen, without affecting the screen’s main purpose, which is to display various UI elements while the phone is in operation. Reports also claimed that Apple is developing its own touchscreen-based fingerprint sensor, without outside help.

The Galaxy S8 is expected to come with an iris sensor thought which will advance facial recognition and let users unlock the device in less than a tenth of a second.

Apple’s iPhone 8 has been teasing Apple fans for the last couple of months with the various rumours, leaks and the like. What probably excited people the most was the OLED display.

Earlier reports had claimed that the iPhone 8 was going to come with a curved OLED display, but some fresh remarks from IHS Markit analyst Wayne Lam (via MacRumors) hint that the iPhone 8’s display will essentially sport the same flat design as the iPhone 7.

“We anticipate Apple will adopt a flat implementation of OLED design on their special iPhone model,” Lam said, “which is analogous to the current 2.5D glass design.”

Lam’s remarks can't be dismissed out of hand especially when you consider the recent Macotakra report claiming that Apple still hasn’t selected a final design and feature-set from a selection of iPhone 8 prototypes.

So with that in mind, it might not be the best option to assume that the iPhone 8 is coming with curved display.

While that's a bummer, it doesn't mean the iPhone 8 won't be insane. It is widely believed that the iPhone 8 will feature improved battery life, wireless charging capabilities, an improved IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, enhanced Siri features, facial recognition, and much more (all for $1000 or more).

There are also rumblings that the iPhone 8 will introduce some new and intriguing augmented reality features. Tim Cook has been uncharacteristically effusive when discussing the technology, even going so far as to compare its potential impact to that of the smartphone itself.

So all in all it's not all bad, a little heartbreaking, but not all bad.

Last week it was reported that the Samsung Galaxy S8 was going to feature facial recognition and the idea with that was that Facial recognition takes less time than fingerprint scanning which it seems Samsung want to do away with.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is still said to feature fingerprint scanning but it seems that might not be around for too long.

The Vault 7 leaks must have really scared a bunch of people as reports indicate that Samsung is stepping up its security game for the Galaxy S8.

Reports from South Korea state that Samsung will include facial recognition technology in the Galaxy S8 and its larger brother, the Galaxy S8 Plus. This would be in addition to fingerprint and iris scanners we’ve already seen in previous Samsung devices.

This is according to Korea Economic Daily.

The Iris scanner initially came with the ill-fated Note 7 and while the phone went up in flames, the idea apparently did not. This is not to say it isn't without its problems with some reviewers saying it takes too long to open their phones.

With the facial recognition, things could be faster. According to an unnamed source for the Korea Economic Daily, “Due to some limits of iris scanning such as speed and accuracy, we have decided to add facial recognition to the Galaxy S8,

“With a face scanner, it will take less than 0.01 seconds to unlock the phone.”

Now as always it should be noted that this is unconfirmed by Samsung and things could change really quickly but if true then it is certainly a good addition to Samsung.

We shouldn't have to wait too long as Samsung is expected to reveal the Galaxy S8 and the S8 Plus at an event in New York later this month, and then launch the devices sometime in April.

And what's better than a 3D camera? The camera is said to use 3D imaging technologies, possibly laser-based, that could be used for facial recognition and, augmented reality.

This camera system will supposedly be made by STMicroelectronics, according to sources. There’s one problem: STMicro is supposedly not yet ready to provide Apple the number of components needed for an iPhone that is expected to sell like pancakes. Despite the speculated $1,000 price tag. As such, STMicro is asking for a bit more time to fulfill the order.

A couple of days ago, Wikileaks released a huge amount of Data that showed that the CIA had been spying on Americans and looking for ways to hack both the iPhone and Android.

Apple released a statement saying that the issues highlighted in the data released had been patched with the latest iOS security update.

Yesterday, a security expert noted that hundreds of millions of Android users are at risk due to the hacking tools used by the CIA to exploit vulnerabilities in smartphones, tablets, computers, wireless routers, cars and other devices, allowing the agency to spy on people without their knowledge.

Google has followed suit stating that users of Android and Chrome OS devices should rest easy.

According to Google, “As we’ve reviewed the documents, we’re confident that security updates and protections in both Chrome and Android already shield users from many of these alleged vulnerabilities,” said Heather Adkins, Google’s director of information security and privacy, in a statement to ZDNet. “Our analysis is ongoing and we will implement any further necessary protections. We’ve always made security a top priority and we continue to invest in our defenses.”

All things being equal, the vulnerabilities aren't that bad for newer versions of the Android device, but those using older versions will have to be careful as some of these vulnerabilities still exist.

Another issue is that while iPhones and iPads have access to Apple’s new software updates the moment they are released, many Android devices don’t gain access to updates for months or even more than a year after they are released.

This means that many Android users are still on old versions of their OS which is still vulnerable. Google's plan for this is as yet unknown.

If you're on an old OS version and you can get an upgrade, please do. It is hoped that Google does something about their issues.

First things first, it is important to note that your Android needs to be an Android 6.0 Marshmallow or over to enable Google Assistant with this hack.

Checked? Done? Right, so here goes.

The Google Assistant is Google's response to Siri and Bixby and it was unveiled in October 2016 along with the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones.

Initially, the AI was supposed to be exclusive to certain devices, but all that changed a while ago at the Mobile World Congress, when it was announced that a host of Android phones would be getting the Google assistant as will Marshmellow and Nougat devices.

However, the update was scheduled to roll out only for English (US) regions with other English variants along with German soon to follow.

So naturally a hack had to come up for it. Here's a neat little one you can try. Note it may not work, but you can give it the good ol college try

1: Make sure the Google Play Services on your devices is updated to version 10.2.98 or later. If not, either download the latest version from here, or wait for your device to update it automatically.

2: Change your device's language to English (US). To do so, navigate to Device Settings > Language & Input > Change it to English (US).

3: Now make sure your Google App is updated to the latest version. If not, just go to Google Play Store and update the Google App. My device was running version 6.13.25.21 at the time of writing this story.

4: Clear cache from your Google App data. This is will clear all the previous settings on your Google App. Also, make sure your Google App language is set to English (US)

5: Once done, just tap and hold the Home Button of your device and you will see a message pop from the bottom asking you get started with 'Google Assistant'. Enjoy!

Android 8.0 is coming, that much's for sure and while the 7.0 Nougat is just about 5 months, we still expect the new update soon.

Reports indicate that Google will unveil the next Android version (8.0) at I/O 2017 on May 17. Expected to be called Android O, a recent report suggests that the new operating system could include three new smart features.

The first of these 3 is what's called the ‘Copy Less’ feature which could help you save some stress when copy pasting. What this feature is expected to do is get your Android to detect relevant information that the user might want to copy. So say you and a friend are discussing where to have dinner and you find somewhere good in an app, when you go back to your conversation and type “it’s at,” one automatically generated suggestion in Gboard would be the restaurant’s address.” This, of course, reduces the whole thing of copy and pasting relevant info.READ: HOW TO GET INSTANT APPS WORKING ON YOUR ANDROIDThe second feature is one that's already in use with Apple’s iOS. The iPhone messaging app automatically detects an address from a message, and tapping on it launches the Maps app to point you to the location. While the feature isn’t available on Android at present, it could debut with Android O.

The last but by no means the least will reportedly bring finger gesture features to the Android from inception. Manufacturers like Huawei, LG and others have added gesture features where drawing ‘C’ opens the camera app, ‘M’ opens the music app and so on. The same is also available on custom ROMs such as Lineage OS, Cyanogen OS, OxygenOS and more. Now, this could soon come as a part of the Android OS.

So May is like a couple of months away, we'll probably know more as time goes on, but it's difficult not to get excited.

Yesterday, one of the biggest scandals to ever surface was uncovered as Wikileaks leaked a ton of data that revealed the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had been spying on people.

This also included efforts to hack iPhones. The leaks detail a number of iOS exploits that can be used to bypass security on devices.

According to TechCrunch, Apple responded to the situation stating that a lot of the vulnerabilities had already been patched.

According to Apple, “Apple is deeply committed to safeguarding our customers’ privacy and security. The technology built into today’s iPhone represents the best data security available to consumers, and we’re constantly working to keep it that way. Our products and software are designed to quickly get security updates into the hands of our customers, with nearly 80 percent of users running the latest version of our operating system. While our initial analysis indicates that many of the issues leaked today were already patched in the latest iOS, we will continue work to rapidly address any identified vulnerabilities. We always urge customers to download the latest iOS to make sure they have the most recent security updates."

Apple stated that from their investigations, many of the exploits detailed were patched in the latest version of iOS, and that it will continue to patch identified vulnerabilities.

They went on to urge users to download and install the latest version of iOS so as to ensure that they have the most recent security updates.

For more on the "Year Zero" document, you can have a look at the Wikileaks' website.